There was a Minn Birding Weekend (MBW) on August 16-17-18 based in Morris which
covered parts of Stevens, Big Stone, and Traverse Co's, plus a bit into Grant
and Lac Qui Parle Co's. Nothing particularly unusual was found, and most
passerines and other land birds were quite conspicuous by their absence, but
there were some highlights worth noting:
- Leucistic Canada Goose (Lac Qui Parle CR 7): most of its plumage uniformly
creamy white with a washed-out trace of its face pattern.
- Western Grebes (Thielke Lake, Big Stone Co); a few dozen present, but no sign
of any Clark's.
- Only 1 Swainson's Hawk (Stevens Co).
- 17 shorebird species, including 2 Black-belllied Plovers (North Ottawa
impoundment in Grant Co; Salt Lake in Lac Qui Parle Co), 1 Upland Sandpiper
(near Wheaton sewage ponds, Traverse Co), and both Wilson's and Red-necked
phalaropes (several locations). This variety was despite high water levels in
almost all the wetlands; the best locations were N Ottawa impoundment (14
species), jct of Big Stone CRs 25 and 10, and Lac Qui Parle CR 7 near Rosen.
- Bonaparte's Gull (Hancock sewage ponds, Stevens Co).
- Caspian Tern (Big Stone Lake in Ortonville).
- Peregrine Falcon (adult chasing shorebirds and gulls at Hancock sewage ponds).
- Only 1 Western Kingbird (Lac Qui Parle Co).
- Mourning Warbler (Morris municipal campground, Stevens Co); this was our only
land bird migrant (i.e., not breeding in this part of Minn).
- Le Conte's Sparrow (adjacent to Miller Prairie West, Traverse Co): in a
cornfield!
- Dickcissel (Traverse Co wheat field).
- Only 1 Orchard Oriole sighting (family group of 5 at a Stevens Co feeder).
Besides our decent list of shorebirds, probably the most interesting aspect of
this MBW was the generally and somewhat alarming scarcity of land birds. Some
examples of our totals after 3 days of birding: 2 Downy Woodpeckers, 3 N
Flickers, 2 Am Kestrels, 5 flycatcher individuals (besides E Kingbirds), 1
vireo individual (Warbling), 4-5 Blue Jays, <10 each of Black-capped Chickadees
and White-breasted Nuthatches, 1 House Wren, 1 E Bluebird, <20 Am Robins, <5
Com Yellowthroats, 1 Am Redstart, 4-5 Yellow Warblers, 0 Vesper Sparrows, 2
Savannah Sparrows, <10 Song Sparrows, and 5-6 House Finches.
Kim Eckert
ecker...@gmail.com
http://www.mbwbirds.com
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